France will coordinate European talks on the choice of the next managing director of the International Monetary Fund with the aim to find a candidate by the end of the month.
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Thursday while speaking at the end of a G7 finance ministers and central bank governors’ meeting in the town of Chantilly north of Paris, report Reuters and BBC.
The minister said the successor to Christine Lagarde, who will take over the European Central Bank, would be European, but refused to name any possible candidates.
“France will continue to coordinate efforts to find a consensus candidate... until the end of July,” he told a news conference.
Recently Christine Lagarde has said she will step down as managing director of the IMF and she is expected to leave the IMF on September 12.
It comes ahead of a decision on her nomination to become head of the European Central Bank (ECB).
"With greater clarity now on the process for my nomination as ECB president and the time it will take, I have made this decision in the best interest of the fund," she said.
"The executive board will now be taking the necessary steps to move forward with the process for selecting a new managing director."
The former French cabinet minister has been head of the IMF since 2011.
If the European Council approves her ECB nomination, she will become the central bank's first ever female leader, responsible for the euro and the monetary policy of the eurozone.
Known as the "rock star" of international finance, Ms Lagarde, 63, began her career as a lawyer before moving into politics.
She served in various ministerial posts under Nicolas Sarközy before being elected as the first female boss of the IMF - replacing Dominique Strauss Khan.
Consistently ranked among the top 10 most powerful women globally, Ms Lagarde has helped to rebuild the IMF's credibility following Greece's 2010 bailout, which bent the fund's rules.
She also presided over the IMF's biggest bailout, a $57bn deal for Argentina last year that many credited with arresting emerging market turbulence.
Last year, she was reported to have said "no, no, no no, no no" when asked if she was interested in running the European Central Bank (ECB).
However, she later described receiving the nomination as "an honour".
The role is likely to test the silver-haired 63-year-old, who has admitted before that she lacks economic experience. Dark clouds are hovering over Italy's banking sector and the bloc is in the midst of a slowdown.
However, one former IMF official said her leadership of the fund meant she was "exceptionally qualified" to run the ECB.